High School Sports

WATSONVILLE—There was a buzz going around the locker room shortly after the St. Francis High baseball team found out where it was placed in the Central Coast Section playoffs. That feeling of excitement is still lingering after the No. 4 seeded Sharks defeated No. 5...

Marcus Northcutt has stepped down as Watsonville High’s athletic director after seven years with the school, he told The Pajaronian on Thursday.     Northcutt, 52, will take on the same duties at North Salinas High starting in July. He will replace longtime athletic director Jean Ashen,...

Watsonville High senior Jackeline Cano was named the Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division’s Most Valuable Player for the 2025-26 winter campaign. The Wildcatz’s star player finished with 25 goals, according to the Monterey Bay Preps website.  Cano, along with teammates senior Jasleen Herrera and...

Pajaro Valley’s football team couldn’t catch a break in last week’s league opener even when momentum seemed to be riding their way the entire afternoon. As a result, the Grizzlies fell to Santa Cruz, 44-19, in the teams’ Pacific Coast Athletic League Santa Lucia Division...

APTOS—The Aptos High girls’ basketball team found itself back in the rebuilding stage after losing a talented group of seniors due to graduation. Mariners coach Bruce Funk is in a spot the program hasn’t been in for quite some time, but he believes they are...

A good chunk of the returning players for Watsonville High spent a majority of the offseason staying busy. Whether it was on the football field or in the weight room on campus or at Guerrilla Underground Fitness in Watsonville, the grind never stopped.  That included senior...

WATSONVILLE—The St. Francis High football team came into last week’s Apple City Jamboree with a roster that looked surprisingly bigger and deeper than some of its most recent squads. And it’s the first time, in a long time, that Sharks coach John Ausman had to...

St. Francis High senior infielder Noel Aquino hit a game-changing home run that helped lift the Sharks baseball team past Watsonville High on Monday. Aquino’s three-run blast in the bottom of the fourth inning was the difference in a 5-4 win against the Wildcatz in...

It had been 11 years since the last time Pajaro Valley was able to muster together at least five wins in one season.  For most programs it’s not a big deal, but being able to surpass that milestone almost seemed impossible for a school lucky...

APTOS—The Aptos High baseball team remains unbeaten in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play after its 2-0 win against Santa Cruz High on Tuesday.  Junior pitcher Gabe Gaeckle got the start on the mound for the Mariners. He threw for three innings, racking up eight...